The field of the invention relates generally to processing electronic payments in both online and in-person commercial transactions, and more particularly to network-based systems and methods for processing of electronic payments in which payor information must be transmitted amongst various parties for purposes of confirmation of payor information and authorization of payments to be made on behalf of a payor by a bank, transaction card issuer, and the like.
Known electronic payment systems enable users to make payments, for example retail purchases, electronically using a payment card. The payment card is either presented personally, in the situation of a purchase being made at a brick-and-mortar retail facility, or presented electronically, in the form of various items of information associated with the payment card and the underlying account associated with the card. Some known payment systems use a payment network, such as the MasterCard® Network, to transfer payments from users to payees (MasterCard is a registered trademark of MasterCard International, of Purchase, N.Y.).
In the environment of commercial transactions, consumers who use transaction cards to make purchases, particularly in on-line transaction situations, are often required to provide significant amounts of information in order to complete the transaction. For example, consumers are often required to provide their name, address, transaction card information (such as the card number and security code), etc. When entering such information, the merchant website typically requests permission of the consumer to store the consumer's information (registration), which information is typically stored in the merchant's database. Consumers accordingly may over the course of time have their payment and other personal information stored in the databases of numerous merchants. The acquisition and storage, even temporarily, of consumer payment information by numerous merchants and vendors presents a significant challenge with respect to security issues. Merchants and vendors that become participants in such payment systems are typically required by the proprietors of such payment systems to undertake substantial security measures in order to protect data, such as consumer payment information, that is stored on merchant or vendor databases.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a method for receiving and processing consumer payment information that addresses security issues and further reduces the number of locations in which consumer payment information is stored.